Woke up to rain oscillating from light to downpour. Decided to watch the radar on the Weather Channel and when the edge of the green got to the Barnstable area, headed to the beach. Not a sight fishing morning but the wind wasn't too bad.

Walked down the beach fishing the usual troughs and hooked up fairly quick at the aquarium. Hung around the aquarium a bit then moved east. At the first trough in front of the trophy houses hooked up with a small keeper. He had a twin that moved in unison with him as I fought him. Thought about experimenting with the Penguin upgrade metheod but decided I need to land a fish or two for confidence sake. Shortly after release I got a dink. the things slowed a bit. I workrd east and in with the tide staying pretty much in fron of the trophy houses where good access to shore was available. picked up a mid twenties schoolie and then...

As I began to draw my fly to make a cast I saw a sizable figure dart. I stopped my motion and this figure grabs the fly' in less than 2 feet of water 10 feet from me, and explodes out. Before I could think about clearing the pile of line in my basket I or should I say, the fish was on the reel and well into backing. Then a tug of war insued. All the while I'm thinking I'm never going to land this fish, based on recent non-success. Eventually I got him to hand. Measured several inches beyond the first ferrule on my DFR which would make him in the 38 to 40" range and really heavy, not like the skinny guy that are normal for this area this time of year. By far my best to date.

As recent reports have indicated, there are nice fish to be had in shallow water on the bayside right now.

striblue

06-14-2003, 01:12 PM

Fred, I would say that was an extremely successful morning...great report.

jfbasser

06-14-2003, 04:14 PM

Great job Fred...Now you need to christen the T&T with another big one tomorrow morning.

FredA

06-14-2003, 09:42 PM

Still thinking about that damn fish. The violence of the take and the run was a bit stunning. The water being shallow the fish thrashed and porpoised on the surface all through the run. I knew immediately that this is something new to me. I don't understand how my line cleared without tangling and getting hung up in a guide. Lucky, Iguess.

Penguin

06-14-2003, 10:32 PM

SKILL & CUNNING!!!
...and a well laid stripping basket!
When you throw most of the line that came in the box, you can bet that any phish who's been to school is going to wait until most of it's in the bucket just to make things interesting...
WAY TO GO PHRED!!!

FishHawk

06-16-2003, 06:01 AM

Nice job Fred. I think these fish like nasty weather. Last Thursday June 10th I got a nice 30" keeper at South Beach in the rain. This season has been much better than last at least for me. FishHawk:D